Pat McKeough

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.

As early as 1980, Pat was recognized as #1 in the world of published investment advice by the Washington, DC–based Newsletter Publishers Association, and he was the first multi-year winner of The Globe and Mail’s stock picking contest.

Both CBS MarketWatch and The Hulbert Financial Digest recognized Pat as one of North America’s top stock analysts. The Wall Street Journal called him “one of only four investment newsletter advisors who have managed to serve their readers well over the long haul.”

A best-selling Canadian author, he wrote Riding the Bull, his 1993 book that predicted the stock-market boom of the last half of that decade. Through his many television appearances, he is well-known to investors for his insightful analysis and his candid, unpretentious style.

Bottom line: Pat’s conservative, reduced-risk strategy is a proven approach to safe investing.

Posts by the author
Saputo trims costs and makes major acquisition to boost profits
SAPUTO INC. (Toronto symbol SAP; www.saputo.com) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. It also makes snack cakes and tarts. In addition to Canada, Saputo operates in the U.S. and Argentina....
High-yielding Crescent Point concentrates on Bakken oil development
CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. (Toronto symbol CPG; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in western Canada. Its output is weighted 90% toward oil and 10% to gas....
Small Canadian firm aims to profit from rising North American demand for cars and trucks
Robots Working In Car Industry
josemoraes/josemoraes
Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on Canadian stocks and other investments as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle....
GANNETT CO. INC. $24 (New York symbol GCI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 229.1 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.gannett.com) publishes 99 newspapers in the U.S. and U.K., including USA Today, its flagship paper. It also publishes 680 magazines and weekly papers and owns 23 U.S. television stations.

Newspapers account for 70% of Gannett’s revenue, followed by TV (16%) and websites (14%).


...
TOYOTA MOTOR CO. ADRs $124 (New York symbol TM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $198.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.toyota.com) sold 193,394 vehicles in the U.S. in July 2013. That’s up 17.3% from 164,898 in July 2012.

The company continues to benefit from rising demand for hybrid cars: sales of its Prius hybrid subcompact jumped 40.0%. Rising home construction also helped push up truck sales by 11.5%.

Toyota should also continue to gain from the Japanese government’s move to weaken the yen, because it makes the company’s cars cheaper for buyers outside Japan. It also raises the value of the foreign currencies that Toyota’s international operations earn.
...
HILLSHIRE BRANDS CO. $32 (New York symbol HSH; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 123.3 million; Market cap: $3.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hillshirebrands.com) makes a variety of packaged meat products. Its main brands include Ball Park hot dogs, Jimmy Dean sausages and Hillshire Farm deli meats.

The company has raised its quarterly dividend by 40.0%, to $0.175 a share from $0.125. The new annual rate of $0.70 yields 2.2%. It also plans to buy back $200 million of its shares in the next two years.

The stock trades at 18.6 times the $1.72 a share it will probably earn in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. That’s a high p/e ratio for a company that faces strong price competition from larger food makers.
...
PETSMART INC. $70 (Nasdaq symbol PETM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 103.3 million; Market cap: $7.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.petm.com) operates 1,301 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 196 in-store PetsHotels, which look after pets while their owners are away.

In the second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended August 4, 2013, PetSmart’s earnings jumped 18.9%, to $93.4 million from $78.5 million a year earlier. PetSmart bought back $24 million of its shares during the quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 25.4%, to $0.89 from $0.71.

Sales gained 5.3%, to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.4%, while sales of pet services, such as grooming, rose 7.3%. Services supplied 12.0% of PetSmart’s total sales.
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GOOGLE INC. $849 (Nasdaq symbol GOOG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 333.2 million; Market cap: $282.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) has started selling Chromecast, a new $35 device that connects to the back of a television set. Chromecast makes it easy to stream movies, TV shows and other video content from a home wireless network to a television.

The company is also interested in securing exclusive content for YouTube, such as NFL football. Programming like this would let Google earn subscription fees and charge advertisers higher rates.

Google is a buy.
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T. ROWE PRICE GROUP INC. $71 (Nasdaq symbol TROW; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 260.1 million; Market cap: $18.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.7; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.troweprice .com) has agreed to sell its banking subsidiary, which mainly offers certificates of deposit.

The company will receive $24 million for this business when the deal closes, probably by the end of 2013. That’s just 12% of the $206.8 million, or $0.79 a share, it earned in the second quarter of 2013. However, selling the banking business will let T. Rowe Price avoid new banking regulations that could interfere with its main mutual fund and wealth management operations.

T. Rowe Price is a buy....